The legendary Ukrainian coach Vitaliy Kvartsiany has identified the best players, coaches, teams of the Ukrainian championship's opening segment, as well as the main disappointment of the tournament.
- Five, albeit incomplete, rounds of the UPL have already been played. Which team impressed you the most in these matches?
- I am very impressed with Rukh, which is improving its project every year - the team is progressing before our eyes. It seems that Rukh held a serious training camp with heavy loads. Not all the players made it through - Sapuga, Pastukh, Slyubyk were injured, but even without their leading players, Rukh is still at the top of the table.
I'd also like to mention Rotan's Oleksandriya, I'll put LNZ in third place, and Dynamo in fourth. I really liked the way the Cherkasy club played against Dynamo - very aggressively, outplaying the Kyiv team in athleticism and power. And this is despite the fact that the team was formed not so long ago. I like this style.
I should note that Dynamo's two central defenders are not world-class players. The top clubs have athletic center backs. I like Mykhavko the most among the Ukrainian defenders today, but he is not yet an athlete. He's angry as a dog, if he adds a little more physical qualities, he'll be a top player! Let him eat his Hercules porridge and work out for now.
- From which team did you expect more, and who did not live up to expectations?
- Of course, it's Shakhtar. Every year, the Donetsk team's performance becomes less and less promising. If we take PR, they are the top team. But Shakhtar have already had too much PR. They sign new Willian, Tyson and Teixeira in Brazil, but they are not even a tenth as good as the previous ones.
Expectations of Shakhtar's players are too high, so they start to think they are already stars. But you can't feel it on the field. Riznyk is not doing his best now, although he is a good goalkeeper. The defense is not confident at all. Shakhtar have no international players in defense or in goal.
In the midfield, only Sudakov sometimes shows himself, all the rest... Stepanenko is a professional, he burps on the field for everyone, but because of his age, he is already giving up. And without him, Shakhtar are helpless.
They don't have a top striker in the attack! Traore is a striker of the First League level, Sikan is unstable. Probably, Shakhtar "listens" to agents and takes incomprehensible players in the attack.
- Why does Shakhtar look so uncertain at the start of the season? What are the Pitmen's chances in the Champions League?
- I don't know. From the outside, it seems that everyone at Shakhtar is happy with everything. The club president entrusted Palkin and Srna with the management. But they chose to focus on the transfer policy and the sale of players rather than the development of Shakhtar.
Shakhtar also hires coaches who cannot communicate their ideas to the players. Lucescu could do it, he had authority!
In addition, Shakhtar have no power and athleticism, so I'm scared to imagine how they will play in Europe. Even in Ukraine, the Pitmen are suffering now. It seems to me that in this year's Champions League, they will be a pale shadow of the Shakhtar we used to know.
- What do you think about Dynamo's performance at the start of the season and about Kyiv's chances in the Europa League?
- I like Dynamo a lot, but in the Europa League every game will be hard, it will not be easy with any team. The Kyiv team is a bit tired, but Shovkovskyi improvises and gives young players the opportunity to prove themselves. But there are moments that I don't like, first of all, a lot of backward play and rolling the ball in their own half of the field.
Also, Dynamo hasn't had a striker for ten years! Vanat is a good footballer, but not a center forward. Vlad must act from deep. A striker cannot be less than 190 cm! A big player like Holland should play in this position. The Norwegian is an ideal forward.
Yes, Dynamo will not be able to afford Holand, but it is possible to find a striker of this type. You could search all over Africa and find him! Once I wanted a tall forward for Volyn, and they brought me Leo from Brazil - 202 cm! I needed a defender who served well, and they brought Teika - he threw the ball 40 meters!
- Who do you think is the best Ukrainian player after the start of the season?
- I'll say Krasnopir. Why? The answer is simple - he scores a lot. The most important thing is that the guy got into his team. Igor feels the moment very well and he has all the qualities of a striker, first of all, a goal-scoring instinct. He also knows how to play with his head, but there is still room for growth.
Krasnopir reminds me of Supryaha in his best days, when he won the World Cup and scored at Dnipro-1. But after injuries, a move to Dynamo and some incomprehensible ambitions, he lost his goal-scoring touch. Vlad is like a "bloodhound dog," he runs around looking for something, but he has no sense of smell and can't score.
Krasnopir has a good eye for goal, and I hope he won't lose it. Ihor has room to grow and if he doesn't stop, he will achieve a lot. I would also advise him to hang on the crossbar to add 5 centimeters to his height.
- Who do you think is the best coach in the UPL after five rounds?
- Undoubtedly, it's Rotan. I knew that he would succeed in his coaching career. Ruslan has a strong football background, he was a major player under every coach. Rotan created an atmosphere of pedagogy and control of the game, he was a real leader on the field.
Therefore, with this baggage, he simply could not become a bad coach. Markevych recommended him to the UAF to be appointed head coach of the youth national team of Ukraine, and everything went well for Ruslan. Under him, the Olympic team looked good, and now Oleksandriya has also done well. Rotan managed to combine experienced players and young people in the team, so Oleksandriya is rightfully leading the league.
Andrii Piskun